This stunning new edition of Fourth Wing features gorgeous stenciled edges designed to match Iron Flame and Onyx Storm―bringing all three books together in one striking visual set. Available as a limited first print run in the U.S. and Canada only.

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general―also known as her tough-as-talons mother―has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.

But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.

With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter―like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.

She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.

Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom's protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.

Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda―because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.

FOR MORTALS TO RISE THE GODS MUST FALL.

In Ancient Greece, the Twelve Gods demand the ultimate tribute – food, treasure, even human sacrifice.

There are some mortals who cling to a desperate prophecy – telling of one to come who’ll set them free. But few truly believe it.

Until Danae, a fisherman's daughter, eats a mysterious golden apple. And suddenly, her life unravels and a strange and dangerous path unfolds before her.

Chased from her home, she neither understands nor fully controls her future. One which will find Danae walking the winding roads of heroes. There, she encounters and befriends the mighty demi-god, Heracles.

Together, they will seek out monsters to battle.

But Danae’s destiny is not to fight beasts.

She will hunt the Gods.

She will drag them screaming from Olympus . . .

Meet Daisy De Melker, who 'lovingly' prepared a flask of strychnine-laced coffee for her son. She is very different from Najwa Petersen, who carefully planned a 'house robbery' to eliminate her musician husband. Chané van Heerden placed her victim's facial skin in the freezer for preservation, yet Phoenix Racing Cloud Theron wished to dispose of her mother's body before it was even cold. And Dina Rodrigues? She 'wouldn't harm a fly' - but then went and organised a hit on a baby.

Women are not paragons of virtue who cannot commit murder. Nor are they always insane when they do deliberately cause death. And the women with 'blood on their hands' are not homogeneous.

In Blood on Her Hands, award-winning journalist Tanya Farber investigates the lives, minds and motivations of some of South Africa's most notorious female murders, from the poisonous nurse Daisy de Melker, to the privileged but deeply disturbed Najwa Petersen, to the mysterious Joey Haarhoff, who died before revealing the fate of her victims. Written in a style lighter than the subject matter might suggest, Blood on Her Hands will keep you reading until late at night.

Drie van die die geliefde Ena Murray se heel beste speur- en spanningsverhale word hier byeengebring:

In Satan van Zimbabwe begin die intrige met 'n koerantberig oor 'n bloedlose lyk met erg verswakte organe. Kan dit die volmaakte moord wees, of is daar bonatuurlike kragte ter sprake? Êrens, verskuil in die mis tussen die mistieke Zimbabwe-ruïnes, lê die antwoord.

In Die man met die geel oë gee die werkgewers van geheime agent majoor Brand Böhm aan hom 'n unieke opdrag: dié aangewese "Suid-Afrikaanse James Bond" moet saam met 'n vrou van sy keuse een nag lank die stad rooi te verf, en hom in die proses so skandelik
gedra dat hy oneervol uit die weermag ontslaan sal word.

En in Onrus op Oshakati hoop dr. Linda Maartens sy kan die donker wolk wat oor haar professionele naam hang, ontvlug. Maar die verlede het ’n manier om 'n mens te agtervolg . . . Terreuraktiwiteite en dwelmsmokkelary vier hoogty – en kort voor lank word sy in ’n
web van misdaad vasgespin.

War is brewing in the fifth book of the #1 bestselling Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas.

The long path to the throne has only just begun for Aelin Galathynius as war looms on the horizon. Loyalties have been broken and bought, friends have been lost and gained, and those who possess magic find themselves increasingly at odds with those who don't.

With her heart sworn to the warrior-prince by her side and her fealty pledged to the people she is determined to save, Aelin will delve into the depths of her power to protect those she loves. But as monsters emerge from the horrors of the past, dark forces stand poised to claim her world. The only chance for salvation lies in a desperate quest that may take more from Aelin than she has to give, a quest that forces her to choose what - and who -she's willing to sacrifice for the sake of peace.

Kingdoms collide in this fifth book in the #1 New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass series.

The world’s most celebrated thriller writer returns with his most stunning novel yet—a propulsive, twisty, thought-provoking masterpiece that will entertain readers as only Dan Brown can do.

Robert Langdon, esteemed professor of symbology, travels to Prague to attend a groundbreaking lecture by Katherine Solomon—a prominent noetic scientist with whom he has recently begun a relationship. Katherine is on the verge of publishing an explosive book that contains startling discoveries about the nature of human consciousness and threatens to disrupt centuries of established belief.

But a brutal murder catapults the trip into chaos, and Katherine suddenly disappears along with her manuscript. Langdon finds himself targeted by a powerful organization and hunted by a chilling assailant sprung from Prague’s most ancient mythology. As the plot expands into London and New York, Langdon desperately searches for Katherine . . . and for answers.

In a thrilling race through the dual worlds of futuristic science and mystical lore, he uncovers a shocking truth about a secret project that will forever change the way we think about the human mind.

Take your first steps into the epic.

Yscalin, land of sunshine and lavender, will soon be ablaze.

It has been centuries since the Draconic Army took wing, almost extinguishing humankind.

Marosa Vetalda is a prisoner in her own home, controlled by her cold father, King Sigoso. Over the mountains, her betrothed, Aubrecht Lievelyn, rules Mentendon in all but name. Together, they intend to usher in a better world.

A better world seems impossibly distant to Estina Melaugo, who hunts the Draconic beasts that have slept across the world for centuries.

And now the great wyrm Fýredel is stirring, and Yscalin will be the first to fall . . .

'You like it darker? Fine, so do I' writes Stephen King in the afterword to this magnificent new collection of stories that delve into the darker part of life - both metaphorical and literal.

Each of these stories holds its own thrills, joys and mysteries; each feels iconic. In 'Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream', a brief and unprecedented psychic flash upends dozens of lives, Danny's most catastrophically. 'Rattlesnakes', a sequel to Cujo, sees a grieving widower travel to Florida for respite and instead receive an unexpected inheritance - with major strings attached. 'The Answer Man' asks if prescience is good luck or bad and reminds us that a life marked by unbearable tragedy can still be meaningful.

King writes to feel 'the exhilaration of leaving ordinary day-to-day life behind' and his ability to surprise, amaze and bring us both terror and solace remains unsurpassed.

You like it darker? You got it.

A FLINT MINER WITH A GIFT
Seft, a talented flint miner, walks the Great Plain in the high summer heat, to witness the rituals that signal the start of a new year. He is there to trade his stone at the Midsummer Fair, and to find Neen, the girl he loves. Her family lives in prosperity and offer Seft an escape from his brutish father and brothers within their herder community.

A PRIESTESS WHO BELIEVES THE IMPOSSIBLE
Joia, Neen’s sister, is a priestess with a vision and an unmatched ability to lead. As a child, she watches the Midsummer ceremony, enthralled, and dreams of a miraculous new monument, raised from the biggest stones in the world. But trouble is brewing among the hills and woodlands of the Great Plain.

A MONUMENT THAT WILL DEFINE A CIVILIZATION
Joia’s vision of a great stone circle, assembled by the divided tribes of the Plain, will inspire Seft and become their life’s work. But as drought ravages the earth, mistrust grows between the herders, farmers and woodlanders—and an act of savage violence leads to open warfare . . .

Truly ambitious in scope, Circle of Days invites you to join master storyteller Ken Follett in exploring one of the greatest mysteries of our age: Stonehenge.

Twenty-six years is a long time not to be alive.

Since the accident that ruined her life, Catherine has lived on autopilot, going through the motions of work and motherhood without being fully present. Trying to fill the gap, her adult daughter, Julia, is looking for love in all the wrong places, and wreaking havoc on the lives that she touches along the way.

Just what will it take to shock Catherine back into life?

A new holiday enemies-to-lovers romance from USA Today bestselling author Meghan Quinn.

Every Kringle in Kringletown celebrated Christmas a lot. But Cole Black on Whistler Lane, unfortunately, did not.

As his fellow citizens decorate their quaint town, brimming with carols and glad tidings, Cole wants nothing more than to hibernate the winter away. But his dreary plans are thwarted when his Christmas nemesis, Storee Taylor, moves in next door to care for her Aunt Cindy. Immediately, the new neighbor turns his life into a real nightmare before Christmas, especially when she decides to enter the town Christmas Kringle contest in honor of Cindy. And better yet, Storee is determined to win.

Over Cole's dead body, she will. With help from his friend Max, Cole decides to enter the competition as well, to beat Storee at her own game by pretending that this hometown grump's heart has grown three sizes this season and he's fallen for the girl next door. And unfortunately for Storee, she has to follow his lead to have a chance at the Christmas Kringle title.

But the competition isn't the only thing that heats up. Cole and Storee's fake relationship becomes very real, and before they know it, they're attempting to hide it from Aunt Cindy. Things get complicated, the competition gets tough, and all it takes is one single night for someone to steal it all…

Ek sal elke dag 'n poliesman skiet, tot julle die moordenaar van Hanneke Sloet aankla. So lui die dreigbrief aan die SAPS. En dan begin die jagtog. Bennie Griessel is die een wat die dossier moet heropen. Die saak is 40 dae oud, die spoor is koud. Daar's geen motief nie, geen leidrade nie, net 'n reeks naakfoto's, 'n hoogs ingewikkelde saketransaksie, en onmenslike druk van topbestuur, die media en die meedoenlose, onpeilbare sluipskutter. En deur dit alles moet Griessel sy nuwe vriendin, die sangeres Alexa Barnard, weghou van die bottel voor haar groot terugkeer-konsert, sy seun keer om nie skandes te maak nie, sy kollegas weerhou daarvan om die ondersoek te kelder, en sy eie, verterende lus vir die helende kragte van drank in toom probeer hou. Sewe dae van hel.

Wily Odysseus, King of Ithaca, has won Troy for the Greeks – after a decade of brutal, bloody warfare. But now this warrior remembers he is a husband and father – and his gaze turns longingly towards home.

Setting sail with a small fleet, Odysseus dreams of soon lying in the arms of his beloved wife Penelope, and of teaching his son Telemachus the ways of a warrior. However, the gods laugh at the foolish hopes of mortals.

And, angered by this upstart, Poseidon – God of the ocean realms – curses our hero to wander the seas for ten long years.

Encountering one-eyed giants, six-headed monsters, terrible storms, titanic whirlpools, hypnotic sirens, seductive witches and jealous goddesses, Odysseus is tempted and tormented beyond any man’s endurance.
Yet he is no mere mortal – and the lure of his wife and son draws him, step by step, stroke by stroke, ever closer to home and his ultimate destiny . . .

A tale of love and longing, return and redemption, home and hope, Stephen Fry’s Odyssey sees the author and national treasure weave the final threads of the fabulous story begun in the worldwide bestseller, Mythos, into an astonishing and mesmerising tapestry for the ages.

It is 2003 – ten years since Spud Milton’s class of 93 matriculated and the boys went their separate ways. Despite their seemingly unbreakable bond, the Crazy 8 – Rambo, Mad Dog, Vern, Fatty, Garth Garlic, Boggo, Simon and Spud – have not kept in touch. Or at least, not as far as Spud knows. When he receives an invitation from the school to attend the 10 Year Reunion weekend, Spud is determined to avoid the event at all costs, but he hasn’t reckoned with the bombardment of intrusive messages and threatening phone calls from his former dorm mates. No one is going to bend his arm, not this time; he is immune to peer pressure and wise to Rambo’s devious manipulation techniques. Spud has moved on. And, anyway, he has enough to worry about on the home front.

At 28 Spud is stuck in a one-third life crisis. Reflecting on a decade of spectacular non-achievement, at a point where he’s coming to realise that his glittering stage career might have stalled before it’s even begun, casts him into deep gloom. For the former scholarship kid, the prospect of once again having to measure up to his blue-blooded school friends – and be found wanting – has him riddled with anxiety. Not only that. Spud still doesn’t have a serious girlfriend, which has seen him resort to a questionable international bathsexting relationship with an old flame. Not to mention that circumstances have forced him to move back in with his parents and his senile grandmother, Wombat, whose walks never end where they began.

After a wildly unsuccessful fishing trip with his father, as well as a return to his old way of figuring things out – writing in his diary – to his own surprise, Spud finds his reunion resistance crumbling. Curiosity and courage win the day. It’s just a weekend, after all … what could possibly go wrong?

Dahlia de Beaumont is the CEO of a high-end perfume and cosmetics company based in Paris. Cruelly widowed at thirty, she brought her four children up alone. Now aged fifty, she guards her heart by burying herself in work, motherhood, and a long-term yet casual relationship with a married man.

Travelling for business, Dahlia is left stranded in San Francisco when terrible wildfires break out, causing widespread death and destruction. Moved by the tragic stories of injured animals, Dahlia volunteers at a pet rescue centre in Napa Valley, where she meets Mark Hamilton, a handsome lawyer who has also been wounded by love in the past.

When Dahlia seeks Mark’s legal counsel, they grow close, feeling a spark that both thought they never would again. But as black smoke fills the air, and the raging fires move ever closer to San Francisco, their lives remain in grave danger.

With everything at stake, is Dahlia willing to take a risk, and put all her cards on the table once more?

Annelie Botes se afsterwe op 12 Desember 2024 het die einde van ’n era ingelui. ’n Era van byna meer as twee dekades waarin sy gedagtes, opinies en insigte oor die lewe met ’n toegewyde lesersgehoor gedeel het. Vir Afrikaans lesers was haar weeklikse rubrieke ’n bron waaruit hulle mildelik geskep het om sin te maak van die wêreld en om inspirasie te vind sodat hul eie skale kon balanseer.

Die rubrieke in hierdie bundel het van 2020 tot 2024 verskyn en volg op Voetstoots, ’n keur van Annelie se rubrieke tussen 2006 en 2020. Vir die menigte lesers vir wie Annelie se stem oor die jare ’n vertroude instelling geraak het, is haar menings ’n besielende kleinood
waarheen hulle meermale sal terugkeer om woorde te vind wanneer dit in hul eie stemme ontbreek.

Hierdie bundel is ’n versameling kantaantekeninge tydens tydperke van ingrypende inkeer en verlies. In Maart 2020 het die Covid-19-pandemie die wêreld getref – bunkertyd in Annelie se taal. In haar wêreld was die tyd van korona ’n voorspel tot haar eie finale
periode van aflegging, siekte, amputasie en uiteindelik, die onvermydelike seisoen van “die engele met raspervlerke”.

The next raid overseen by the Hunters Association brings together the survivors of the double dungeon incident for the first time since the tragedy. Fortunately, this next raid should be fairly cut-and-dry—but sometimes, the most terrifying beasts aren’t the ones found in dungeons...

This stunning new edition of Iron Flame features gorgeous stenciled edges designed to match Fourth Wing and Onyx Storm―bringing all three books together in one striking visual set. Available as a limited first print run in the U.S. and Canada only.

Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College―Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky.

Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders’ capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is–unless she betrays the man she loves.

Although Violet’s body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she still has her wits―and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules.

But a determination to survive won’t be enough this year.

Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College―and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.

Loyalties are tested in this slow burn, enemies-to-lovers romantasy following an assassin and a healer forced to work together to cure a fatal disease, all while resisting the urge to kill each other—or, worse, fall in love.

When Osric Mordaunt, member of the Fyren Order of assassins, falls ill, he realizes he needs the expertise of a very specific healer. As fate would have it, that healer belongs to an enemy faction, the Haelan Order.

Aurienne Fairhrim and her fellow Haelan are inundated by sick children suffering from an outbreak of a long-forgotten Pox. Unable to get the funding needed to launch an immunization program, the Haelan Order is desperate for money – so desperate that when Osric breaks into their headquarters to bribe Aurienne to heal him, she is forced to accept.

As Osric and Aurienne work together to solve not only his illness but the mysterious reoccurrence of the Pox, they find themselves ardently denying their attraction which only fuels the tension between them.

Esther Nacht is born in Vienna in 1905. Her father dies on board a ship from Bremerhaven to Portland, Maine, and anti-Semites murder her mother in Portland. In the orphanage at St. Cloud’s, it’s clear to Dr Larch, the physician and director of the orphanage, that the abandoned child not only knows she’s Jewish, but she’s familiar with the biblical Queen Esther she was named for. Dr Larch knows it won’t be easy to find a Jewish family to adopt Esther; he doubts he’ll find any family to adopt her.

When Esther is fourteen, soon to become a ward of the state, Dr. Larch meets the Winslows, a philanthropic family with a history of providing for unadopted orphans. The Winslows aren’t Jewish, but they detest anti-Semitism and similar prejudice. Esther’s gratitude to the Winslows is unending. As she retraces her steps to her birth city, Esther keeps loving and protecting the Winslows – even in Vienna.

The final chapter of this historical novel is set in Jerusalem in 1981, when Esther is seventy-six.

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders.

But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case.

Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.

Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it's too late?

There are few bits of history more mythologised, sensitive and political than Sparta, but luckily we have Bayliss' Dan Snow, creator of History Hit

Sparta - its legendary warriors and steadfast resilience are famous throughout the world as a model for toughness, justice and masculinity. The Spartans' reputation as fighters is matched only by their mythic code of honour. Their torch has been carried by footballers and politicians, video games and philosophers alike.

But who really were the Spartans? And what was the driving force behind the rise - and dramatic fall - of Sparta?

Sparta traces the story of Ancient Greece's most iconic city-state, from its humble beginnings as a hamlet in the Peloponnese to its meteoric rise as the foremost military superpower of the Classical world. Andrew Bayliss uncovers the eclectic quirks that set Sparta above its rivals: its famous double monarchy, the harsh methods for raising children as soldiers and the unique role of women in Spartan life.

Sparta was an ancient superpower, and its legacy is still shaping popular culture and politics today. This is the story of its rise and fall.

NOT EVERY LOVE IS MEANT TO BE . . .

After Jacks, the Prince of Hearts, betrays her, Evangeline Fox swears she'll never trust him again. Now that she's discovered her own magic, Evangeline believes she can use it to restore the chance at happily ever after that Jacks stole away.

But when a new terrifying curse is revealed, Evangeline finds herself entering into a tenuous partnership with the Prince of Hearts again. Except this time, the rules have changed. Jacks isn't the only force she needs to be wary of. In fact, he might be the only one she can trust, despite her desire to despise him.

Instead of a love spell wreaking havoc on Evangeline's life, a murderous spell has been cast. To break it, Evangeline and Jacks will have to do battle with old friends, new foes, and a magic that plays with heads and hearts. Evangeline has always trusted her heart, but this time she's not so sure . . .

Human life is governed by the elements – water, earth, fire and air. They are fundamental to our existence. They sustain us, but they also challenge us.

In The Elements, John Boyne has created a vivid kaleidoscope to reflect that contradiction: a quartet of intertwined narratives, each providing a different perspective on cause and effect from the points of view of the enabler, the accomplice, the perpetrator and the victim.

From a mother on the run from her past, to a young football star on trial, a successful surgeon grappling with childhood trauma, and finally a father on a transformative journey with his son, the four strands weave together to form a tapestry of intersecting lives.

Boyne’s most ambitious work yet, The Elements is both an engrossing drama and a moving examination of the fault lines inherent to human experience. In crisp, spellbinding prose, he navigates a complex subject with extraordinary empathy and unflinching honesty, at every step challenging us to confront our own perceptions of who we are and what made us that way.

HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO FOR HAPPILY EVER AFTER?

For as long as she can remember, Evangeline Fox has believed in happily ever after. Until she learns that the love of her life is about to marry another, and her dreams are shattered.

Desperate to stop the wedding, and heal her wounded heart, Evangeline strikes a deal with the charismatic, but wicked, Prince of Hearts. In exchange for his help, he asks for three kisses, to be given at the time and place of his choosing.

But after Evangeline's first promised kiss, she learns that bargaining with an immortal is a dangerous game - and that the Prince of Hearts wants far more from her than she pledged. He has plans for Evangeline, plans that will either end in the greatest happily ever after, or the most exquisite tragedy . . .